Lucky Me
by Myurra-K
Summary: Pogue and Kate are finally getting married; their wedding brings the covenant back to Ipswich. Tyler and Reid are still without relationships and decide to date one another. Already smitten, Tyler has to romance Reid in mere months - an impossible task!


**Lucky Me**  
**Myurra**

**Chapter I  
Fools Gold**

* * *

**I**

He'd never considered it before.

Holding the neck of the coke bottle between careless fingertips, the blonde swirled the bottle around, watching through the glass as the brown liquid made a small whirlpool _everything is so controlled_- until he spun it too quickly, splashing up along the sides recklessly.

-_you cant always control it_-

_-it doesn't want to be controlled-_

"What do you think?" Kate asked him, grinning. Reid turned his moonstone eyes towards her, the dark-skinned woman's brilliant white smile giving it away. She'd been thinking about this for years.

It had been three years since their graduation and since Caleb and Sarah had gotten married. The four brothers of the covenant had decided it was about time they all came back to Ipswich to see one another again. Well, the idea was originally Kate's, who was getting married to Pogue in two months and she wanted to be familiar with everyone who was going to be at their wedding.

_-spools spun with the cotton-_

He'd come to Ipswich from New York with hesitance, not really wanting to have much to do with the people of his past. His life wasn't going as best as he could have hoped _why are they all happily living their dreams and I'm not-_ it would have been.

_-weaved from the threads of the past-_

He'd come thinking everyone was happily married or getting married, living the best of their lives, but over on the other side of the room, playing with two year old twins Acara and Gemini Danvers was someone who didn't even recognise him. Tyler Simms, living on his own in London without even the slightest evidence to say he'd even dated once, _just once is all it'd take-_ seemed just as surprised to come back to Ipswich so suddenly.

_-wound around the needle that pierces through the present to the future-_

But he didn't seem unhappy about it.

_-the past doesn't relive itself in the present-_

The raven boy and girl were holding one of Tyler's hands each as he ran with them toward the front door and out into the lawn covered in snow. Sarah shouted after them, coats draped over her arms as she tried to get to her children and the young man watching them.

_-past is lived through memories, not actions-_

Tyler hadn't said 'hello' to Reid once; in fact he'd hardly said anything to anyone. He'd been speaking with Caleb and Sarah when the blonde had shown up, but he'd barely given Reid a second glance before taking off with the children.

"I'm not sure." Reid said once he lost sight of the raven man. Kate sighed irritably, patting out her dress and pouting at her fiancé who'd abandoned her to talk with Caleb across the room. He grinned at the two of them, waving at her and then turned back to his best friend.

"Alright then, at least tell me you'll consider it. He is attractive, and you can tell he's as lonely as you are." she said, giving Reid a sideways look.

Kate was well on her way to becoming a well known fashion designer; she loved to create pieces that accentuated natural beauty and she wasn't afraid to recreate things other men and women had tried and failed to perfect. Her perfectly manicured nails tapped on the surface of the dining table where she was sitting with Reid, the blonde watching each movement.

"I don't date guys." Reid said. Kate grinned.

"You don't date girls, either." she retorted.

_-all I see in you is a dead end-_

Reid sighed, placing the bottle on the table and giving the woman before him a serious _lets see who wins this one-_scouring gaze, raking his eyes up and down her features. He'd take her seriously this once, he'd pick up on her challenge and accept it.

"What would you have me do?"

_-backtracking might help me reach-_

_-that shortcut you're trying to hide-_

She smiled, licking her lower lip. "Say 'hello' for starters." she said, stifling a giggle at the twitch of his eye. The blonde looked down, moonstone eyes shimmering in the light as he stared intently at the edge of the table.

"He doesn't recognise me." it was true, he'd barely even acknowledged that he was here. Was he supposed to stand _why should I make the first move?-_ up and shout 'Reid Garwin is here again'. That wasn't going to work.

_-not much really works for those who-_

He crossed his arms in absolute resolve; there was no way he was approaching his old best friend first. He wasn't even sure why he was giving in; it's not like Kate was really that big of a part in his life. He didn't like saying that, but he wouldn't have anything to do with her if he didn't have anything to do with Pogue.

_-don't bother trying-_

"Have it your way, then." she shrugged, standing from the table. Her dress unruffled, falling down to the floor. Since Pogue's parents both passed away and handed him the estate, which was much like Caleb's who had inherited it from his own mother, she'd really taken to the role of rich fiancé with the big old home. It seemed that the old Victorian style had really appealed to her, and she loved flaunting it.

The children laughed suddenly, running into the house through the front entrance again. Reid felt himself melt at the sound of Tyler's laughter.

_-it was the laughter that filled the halls-_

_-it melted my icy black heart-_

The man chased the children inside, Acara running towards her parents and Gemini coming toward him. The raven boy ducked beneath Reid's chair, diving under the table and tearing through the kitchen. Tyler's smile faltered only slightly _oh so now he recognises me-_ when he met Reid's piercing gemstone gaze.

Gemini's escape was forgotten as Tyler stared directly into his old best friend's eyes.

"Reid?" he murmured. The blonde didn't have time to respond when Acara squealed for Tyler's attention, jumping on him from behind. Tyler fell to the floor, the little dark-haired girl tugging at his clothes and crying out.

"Uncle Ty, Uncle Ty, lets go find Gem!" she squealed excitedly.

Reid stood from the chair when he caught sight of Kate's beckoning gaze, aware of Tyler's opal eyes following him as he approached the woman across the room. Only, when he turned around _that was fast-_ Tyler was gone.

_-now the sands of time stop-_

Reid sighed dejectedly at Kate, whose hands were on her hips and brow cocked knowingly. She stared him up and down, nodding approvingly before launching them both towards where their last conversation had ended.

_-so that you may gather your bearings-_

"So what do you think?" she asked, fingering the engagement ring on her finger.

Reid sighed, ruffling his hair and squinting in hesitance to answer her.

"I guess you're on. But he has to talk to me before I make any moves." she tutted, waving a finger in the blonde's face.

"Nu-uh, you aren't making any moves. You are going to let him make the moves; lure him into it instead. Make him chase you." she said.

_-unfortunately, your north is my south-_

"We aren't girls, if we're going to start something we may as well be manly about it." Kate sighed, bringing her hand to her forehead in an exaggerated gesture.

"Oh Reid, when will you ever learn. Your moves are too brusque and you are accustomed to much more; let Tyler do the work. He is subtle and he can bring you out to face up to what you've missed out on all these years."

_-everything goes around in a circle-_

_-we're on opposite ends of the spectrum-_

In London, Tyler had been making a living as a short-dollar novelist and an artist. He lived in a simple apartment and from what Kate had told him, most of the space was a crowded mess anyway. He and his parents had a disagreement before he left and refused to give him any houses or money until they died and he inherited it legally.

_-but the spectrum is drawn on a line, baby-_

_-so if everything goes around in a circle-_

Reid was in the building industry; he owned several supplier companies and was the national manager for the entire frame and truss network. It was a constant job, and he had more than enough money to not only survive but for generations of his family to come to survive as well. He was used to expensive dinners and rich companions; Tyler wasn't from the same circle as him.

_-then your end of the spectrum is right next to mine-_

_-we're so different and yet so alike-_

"Well?" she said when she finally realised he was in his own world of thought and wasn't about to say anything. He turned his eyes to her, before nodding weakly.

"Fine, but I'm doing this for his sake, not because I want to." he protested. She smirked.

"Sure, that's why you told Pogue that Tyler was '_your_ baby boy' all those years ago." she grinned. Reid went red, his eye twitching in annoyance.

"I was drunk, and this was years ago. Stop digging up the past, you evil, evil wench." he growled. She chuckled, slapping him on the shoulder and wishing him luck.

"You'll thank me in the end." she snickered.

* * *

**II**

_-was he always-_

Tyler and Acara had finally caught Gemini, who had been hiding in a cupboard beneath the sink. He had sent them back, saying he had to go _my reflection lies-_ to the bathroom which was where he was now.

_-so damn obvious-_

Staring into his mirror, he wondered if it had _not likely- _taken as long for Reid to recognise him as it had the other way round. He had been waiting for the day to come when Pogue and Kate finally got married, so they'd all have an excuse _because I needed the excuse-_to come back to Ipswich

_-he sticks out in a crowd-_

He'd wanted to see Reid so long that he'd forgotten he was looking at the other man when he'd finally spotted him. He'd seen a stranger with blonde hair across the room looking at him, but it had never occurred to him that it was the same _damn blonde I'd been missing all these years- _person he'd been waiting for. It had taken him a good long look in the other's eyes to see it was really him.

As though he just didn't want to believe it when the time finally came. But in the end, his mind told him he had no choice but to accept that he was, indeed, staring _if that's all you'd call it- _at Reid Garwin.

_-like a sore thumb-_

"I hope he remembers me." Tyler whispered to _the only person who never answers me- _the mirror, before resigning that it was obvious he did. He remembered _why didn't he say anything to me?-_ the way Reid met his eyes.

_-with a child's fluorescent plaster-_

Or maybe Reid didn't want to know him. After all, he hadn't contacted the other all these years. Not to mention that he knew just how rich and important _the total contrast to myself- _Reid was. Maybe Reid thought he was better than his brother now.

_-wrapped tightly around it-_

Dabbing his face with water, he watched as it spun down the drain to never be seen again, turning off the taps and leaving the bathroom to join his hosts and the other guests. He just hoped that Reid would talk to him; he'd really missed Reid.

He hated missing Reid; absence of his friends and family as always a horrible thing for him to deal with, even though he'd forced himself to.

_-too much of a good thing is a bad thing-_

_-maybe it works the other way too-_

_

* * *

_**III**_  
_

"So Pogue, what took you so long with asking her?" Reid asked over dinner. The other nameless, faceless guests had left not so long ago, and the brothers were enjoying a well cooked meal in the company of the two wives and two children.

The man swallowed _guilty as charged-_ and gave a cautious look toward his fiancé before answering.

"Actually, this is the third time I've asked." he answered. Tyler laughed first, before the rest of the table joined in. Reid's eyes were on Tyler, who was staring back at him in return. Kate spoke up, seeing the exchange between the two men.

"The first time, I refused because he pulled the ring out during the middle of an argument, and I felt like he was just doing it to get me to shut up."

"Which he was." Reid cut in. Caleb bumped elbows _those who suffer long-term drama, when I myself don't, deserve to be laughed at-_ with the younger man, who simply covered his mouth to hide his smirk.

"The second time," Pogue started, giving a pointed stare in his blonde brother's direction. "I couldn't ask properly because I forgot the ring, but she was pretty disappointed because it was obvious I had planned on asking her."

"And the third time?" Sarah asked, holding out a spoon of peas for Acara's open mouth. The blonde woman smiled over at her giddy best friend, who sighed in the bliss of her memory.

"This time, he randomly woke me up in the middle of the night, drove us to the airport and hopped us both on a plane where I fell asleep again. When I woke up a few hours later we were in Greece, and we took a cruise to an island where he had a helicopter fly us to a remote cabin on the side of the mountains. The entire time during dinner and the evening I was wondering when he was going to ask me, but instead we just had a really, really…"

"Exaggerated?" Caleb offered, ignoring the look on Kate's face at being interrupted.

"Passionate," she said with finality "night. He woke me up, right when the sun was rising through our window, and slid the ring on my finger."

"_That's_ how he asked you?" Sarah asked, jaw dropped in shock. Kate grinned happily, giving Pogue a soft look from across the table. Sarah reached over Acara and whacked Caleb over the back of the head. "You asshole, you don't even remember our anniversary."

"Ouch! Hey Kate, why did you have to go and tell her all that for." Caleb whined, smiling down at Gemini who was looking between his mother and father in interest.

"So how did you two get engaged?" Tyler asked, taking a sip of the long island iced tea. Sarah rolled her eyes and gave Caleb a strange look.

"He took me to Marble Head, stood on the edge of the cliff with his back facing it, knelt down and held out the ring saying I'd either marry him or he'd jump." the table was silent for a moment.

"Wow, dad. You really are silly." Acara giggled, sending the rest of the table into fits of laughter.

"Funny thing is, I thought it was actually quite romantic." Sarah admitted, rubbing her temple. The laughter quietened down, Caleb turning to Tyler and giving him a direct look.

"So Tyler, anyone special pass through your life recently?" Tyler put down his glass, giving a quick shake of his head to say he wasn't bothered by it.

"Try ever, and no. Who wants to be with an artist whose apartment is so small he mixes up his paint and toothpaste every morning." Kate giggled.

"I know of some people." she piped.

"Yeah Ty. Some people really go for the coloured teeth thing." Pogue added straight after. Tyler laughed, rolling his eyes.

"Very funny. But its only white paint. Besides, I guess I don't make it any easier on myself." he admitted. Sarah raised her brow at him.

"How so?"

"Well, I'm gay, Sarah." Reid, who had been taking a drink at the time, spluttered it suddenly. Everyone ignored him. Sarah stuttered, unsure as to how to reply to that.

"Oh…well um, congratulations?" she murmured, and Reid couldn't help but laugh.

"You sound like you've never heard a confession before." the blonde said, smirking at the woman.

"And you, Reid Garwin, whose front is covered in ice tea, look like you've never heard a confession before." she retorted, taunting him into a debate.

"Well, not one I didn't expect. But it doesn't matter, Tyler here is only twenty-one. Plenty of time to find the one, right Baby boy?" Reid said, the first direct comment he'd made to Tyler that whole night. Tyler, thrilled by Reid's obvious interest in conversation, beamed when he nodded.

"Well what about you, Reid?" Pogue asked. "Everyone else here has a story or an excuse, what about you?"

Reid looked down at his hands. "Well, nothing ever works out for some reason or another." he admitted, looking up to meet everyone's eyes.

"What, no unexpected confession?" Sarah taunted.

"Not tonight."

Conversation from there flitted from topic to topic; some of it went to personal focus to general debating. The whole time Tyler and Reid cautiously approached speaking to one another, as though each feared that the other wouldn't really want to talk to them. By the end, the two were having their own personal conversation, while Kate looked on with a barely concealed smirk.

_-I'm ringing the bell and waiting on the front porch while-_

When the twins had finished their dinner, both of them took off to prance around the Christmas tree and sneak outside into the snow again. Reid excused himself in order to watch the kids, Tyler doing the same not too long after.

_-you use the back door and slip away silently-_

* * *

**IV**

_Oh god, he remembers_. Tyler thought to himself that night. _He actually remembers me._ The last few years he had been living like a husk of who he once was in the hopes that one day he'd get the courage to visit Reid and tell him the whole truth.

Why his parents no longer wanted anything to do with him. Why he purposely lived in a small crowded apartment so that he could keep his mind inside an inclosed space, not letting it wander. Why he lived alone.

_-alone is such a cruel hard word-_

If Reid were to ever find out just how much he was in love with him, it would probably be the end of it. He was so smitten with his best friend that he purposely moved across the hemisphere so it would be harder to find him if he ever woke up and had a compulsive need _doing things because I can, because I'm not a child anymore- _to go and tell the other just how he felt.

_-the truth is hard, and the world is cruel-_

But seeing the blonde there that night, and the furtive glances between the blonde _oh please tell me I'm doing this right-_ and Kate, who would wink at Reid and gesture with her head toward him, he could only assume that they talked about him more than he knew when he was playing with the twins.

_-like a single seed, summed up in a nut shell-_

_-that seed's been given the space to bloom-_

He could feel the blonde's eyes raking over him the entire time, sending pleasant warm shivers down his spine. He wanted to hope that maybe, just maybe, Kate had caught on. That she understood why he starved himself _oh so hungry for your affection-_ of the company of another.

_-and if that tree of loneliness grows big enough, one summer we'll open our eyes and it will be covered in fruits-_

The more he was around Reid, the harder it was to keep from saying or doing anything that could make or break the two of them forever. Several times he caught his tongue, but he knew it was only a matter of time before _I'm going out on a limb for you - _he took a chance and said something

_-fruits have a core of seeds, and some seeds will grow. This tree of loneliness is lonely no more-

* * *

_

**V**

"So you live away from it all, a nice quiet life." Reid said, shoving his hands in his pockets.

It was two days after the party, and they were taking Caleb's dog for a walk out in the park. It hadn't snowed since that evening and the sun was boring into the snow, melting it into puddles and defrosting the grass. Tiny blue flowers speckled the ground and the trees were dark and leafless, but the beginnings of buds were on the verge of bloom. It was an early spring, yet only days away from Christmas.

"Quiet life with a subway running not fifty metres from my bedroom window." Tyler pointed out, looping the leash around his hand again, watching the black and white Border Collie racing down through the small remaining mounds of snow and barking at a flock of quails nestling tauntingly _you cant reach us, nah, nah- _on a low branch of a tree.

"Alright, I get your point. But still, what does it feel like to live the way you do?" Reid chuckled, holding his hands up defensively.

Tyler thought about this for a moment. "Flustering." he admitted. Reid cocked his head to the side.

"Flustering? How so?"

"Well, I never earn enough money to start with. I'm always turning people down for relationships for whatever reason. Sure I get to paint and do what I want, but it's just…not the way I wanted to do it. I wanted something a little more, and it frustrates me to know I wont get it."

Reid frowned. "You know I'd help if you asked, man,"

"I don't want your charity, Reid. You don't understand, it's embarrassing." Reid gave a quipped look at his friend.

"Why would it be embarrassing?" Tyler frowned at Reid, something that was meant to start out _opals are meant to me polished round, not chipped sharp- _as a glare. Reid looked genuinely confused, stepping in front of Tyler.

_-I feel it slipping through my fingers-_

Without a thought to it _'cause you make my mind so numb-_ Tyler's hands grasped at the back of Reid's head, pulling the blonde in for a kiss. Reid reacted impulsively, kissing back only slightly out of reflex.

_-like the water you've turned my heart into-_

"That's why." Tyler murmured when he pulled back. Reid touched his lips with his fingertips _already it feels intrusive to touch a part of myself you've claimed- _gently, his other hand unwittingly grasping Tyler's wrist to keep him from running off. Alarm bells went of in Reid's head.

Alarms sounding suspiciously like Kate.

"_Make him chase you." _

"Oh…that's why…" he said quietly, pretending not to be effected by it. Forcing himself to calm his racing thoughts _something I've never managed before- _and lower his blush, he turned back to watch the dog racing around the field.

"That's it? Are you serious?" Tyler asked, aghast. Reid frowned, looping his finger through one of the pockets on Tyler's jacket, pulling the raven closer.

"Well, it's not like it matters now, does it?" the blonde asked, and Tyler's eyes flashed momentarily. The quails made a series of indignant squawks, taking off in a flock. The dog, who was still quite young and still acted like a puppy, yipped and chased after them across the park but not out of sight of it's guardians.

"Doesn't matter?" he hissed. Reid raised his brow at the other warlock. He was doing his best to steady his racing heart and keep his blush unnoticeable; following Kate's advice was a lot harder than he thought. Maybe _Oh god, I'm committing to him already- d_ating Tyler wouldn't be quite as easy as he'd thought it would be.

"Well, can you prove to me that it would matter? Do you really think yourself a good match for me?" he asked. He almost winced at his own_ shrewd barbs thrown carelessly in less than defence-_ words, aware at how they were probably hurting the other man. Of course, Tyler was braver than he was when it came to battling out emotions; the man stood straight, staring him in the eye.

His fingers grasped Reid's chin, making the other man lean closer. "I'll prove it. I'll prove to you that would make a good couple." Reid smirked, though he seriously just wanted to smile widely instead. But Kate told him he had to play hard-to-get.

He always hated that game._ Because you always loose._

"Alright then. You have until Pogue and Kate's wedding to prove it. That's just under two months." Tyler reared back as though he'd been slapped, but his expression was one of achievement. Reid was aware of his attraction to his friend, but he wasn't sure if his feelings were that of the same kind of affection the other man seemed to feel for him.

Then again, that's what the two months were for. _This game just became reality, honey. Sure you still want to play?-_

"Two months to make me fall for you." he said, letting go of Tyler's pocket and poking him in the chest. "Better not disappoint." he said cheekily, turning away and whistling for the dog when Tyler was about to say something.

The other man sighed under his breath, and Reid could have sworn he heard him mutter "Wish me luck."

* * *

**A/N: **alright, this is the first chapter to **'Lucky Me'**. Tyler has to make Reid fall in love with him, though he doesn't really have to try that hard as you can probably see. They will, obviously, come across some bumpy parts in the road, which is what this story is mostly about.

Reid also has a bit of an ego; he thinks he's better than everyone else including Tyler. And Tyler feels threatened by this nature of Reid's, which will lead to some problems themselves.

The original name for this story was 'Unkind', but after several variations of the same title I grew sick of it and changed it to 'Lucky Me', which suited the story better anyway, because of the sarcasm the characters share toward one another.

As you can tell, they will probably end up being quite nasty to one another at times, as the old title gives away.

**Take care**  
**MK**


End file.
